eGDCCOVID-19: Regulators’ joint statement and new GDC supplementary advice
Foreword from Ian Brack
In March last year, at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside the other healthcare regulators I issued a statement to support our registrants in dealing with the unprecedented challenges that they were facing. As the pandemic continues, we know that dental professionals continue to work in very difficult situations and under extreme pressures, as do health and social care professionals in other disciplines. I think it is important to acknowledge the care that all dental professionals have continued to provide to patients through these very difficult and challenging circumstances.
With the production and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines underway, some dental professionals are playing a vital role in the effort to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, but most continue to sustain dental services while needing to manage the increased risks and constraints imposed by the pandemic. The current surge in cases means that those challenges will inevitably continue for some time to come and dental professionals may continue to have concerns about decisions they need to take in order to provide the best care in challenging circumstances.
When the pandemic began last year, all the professional regulators across the UK set out how we would carry out our roles during this time. We are setting out our approach again in the joint statement below, which re-iterates the principles we said we would rely upon, and will continue to rely upon, as the pandemic continues.
As further reassurance, I am also publishing today the supplementary advice I am giving to GDC case examiners about the factors they should take into account in considering the impact of COVID-19 on a professional’s ability to deliver care.
Chief Executive and Registrar, General Dental Council
Joint statement from chief executives of statutory regulators of health and social care professionals
We hold the registers of health and social care professionals in the UK. We support those professionals to deliver better, safer care by setting the standards they need to meet, to act in the best interests of patients and people who use health and social care services at all times.
As registered professionals, the first concern of the individuals on our registers will be the care of their patients and people who use health and social care services. We encourage health and social care professionals, working in partnership with each other and people using services, to use their professional judgement to assess risk and to deliver safe care informed by any relevant guidance and the values and principles set out in their professional standards.
We recognise that in highly challenging circumstances, professionals may need to depart from established procedures in order to care for patients and people using health and social care services. Our regulatory standards are designed to be flexible and to provide a framework for decision-making in a wide range of situations. They support professionals by highlighting the key principles which should be followed, including the need to work cooperatively with colleagues to keep people safe, to practise in line with the best available evidence, to recognise and work within the limits of their competence, and to have appropriate indemnity arrangements relevant to their practice.